Red Tropical Plants
- The Joseph's Coat is an example of a red-leaved tropical plant.red leaves image by Igor Zhorov from Fotolia.com
Red-leaved plants stand out among their green companions, both in nature and in the garden. Some tropical plants have completely red foliage, while others are variegated, with red blotches or stripes. Plants such as the poinsettia produce red leaves to draw attention to their flowers. Most plants with red foliage produce their most vivid colors when grown in the sun, and tend to fade if placed in the shade. - The red-leaved Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum) is a fast-growing tropical plant that can reach 30 feet in height, with leaves up to 20 feet long. It can survive minimum temperatures of 36 degrees F and shorter specimens can be dug up and overwintered indoors in colder areas. It requires a sheltered spot to prevent wind damage to its large leaves.
- The ti plant (Cordyline terminalis) is from Southeast Asia and bears large variegated leaves with pink or reddish tones growing on unbranched stems. It can reach 10 feet in height and produces small red or yellow flowers that are followed by red berries that grow in 12-inch long panicles. It thrives in sunny conditions and loses much of its color in the shade. The ti plant also can be grown as an indoor potted plant when kept in a sunny location.
- Joseph's coat (Acalypha wilkesiana), also called "copper plant" or "copper leaf," is an ornamental shrub with large, showy leaves of red, yellow, green and bronze hues. Originally from the island of Fiji, it is now cultivated all around the world and a wide range of different cultivars exist. Its heart-shaped leaves are simple, have serrated edges and are edible. Joseph's coat is a fast-growing plant that thrives in sunny conditions, provided it is adequately watered.
- The croton (Codiaeum variegatum) plant has large, thick leaves that have red, yellow,green and pink variegations. A native of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, it has many cultivars with different colored leaves and leaf shapes, many with predominantly conspicuous red colors. Its flowers are small, yellow and star-shaped and hang in long racemes (flower clusters that present on short stalks from a long central stem).
- The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a Central American spurge plant that bears bright red bracts or modified leaves. It is sold as a potted plant for the Christmas holidays, but if cultivated can actually grow into a large shrub that can reach 10 feet in height. Its small, yellow flowers are borne in the middle of a large and showy terminal rosette of red leaves. Regular pruning encourages the plant to remain compact and to produce more flowers. Poinsettias require sunny conditions and can be propagated from cuttings.
- Many species and varieties of caladium have leaves with red centers or patches, as do some of the rex begonias. Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) varieties produce deep, copper-colored foliage, and the perilla (Perilla frutescens) plant resembles a nettle plant, with red-streaked leaves. The coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) is similar, but with red margins to its foliage. The University of Illinois' Fabulous Foliage website has a good selection of plants that present colored leaves.
